Alan Watts - The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

     I have decided to read Alan Watts' The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are for my last book on happiness. Alan Watts was famous in the 1960s and 70s for bringing Eastern philosophies to the West. Though he is called a 'philosopher,' he actually held a master's in theology and went through Zen training in New York. He was born in Britain but became famous while living in California. And, although he focused on teaching Buddhism, he also taught about the Hindu and Christian faiths. Admittedly, much of his teachings on Christianity focused primarily on the trauma and confusion it can cause the human psyche, especially on young minds. However, this may have been the result of his own Catholic upbringing.
     In the first chapter, Inside Information, Watts introduces the problem that he wishes to address. Namely:

We suffer from a hallucination, from a false and distorted sensation of our own existence as living organisms. Most of us have the sensation that "I myself" is a separate center of feeling and action, living inside and bounded by the physical body - a center which "confronts" an "external world of people and things, making contact through the senses with a universe both alien and strange. (p.8)

     He goes on to point out two results of this collective hallucination. The first is that we hold a hostile attitude towards the "outside" world that "ignores the basic interdependence of all things and events." (p.9) And, this leads to our desire to "conquer nature." Another result of this hallucination is what Watts' refers to as the human race having "no common sense." He states that this leads to us living as "a muddle of conflicting opinions united by force of propaganda [which] is the worst possible source of control for a powerful technology." (p.10)

     The rest of the text focuses on what we truly are; namely, that you are the whole universe "expressing itself." One of my favorite lines in the book is:

Thus the soul is not in the body, but the body in the soul, and the soul is the entire network of relationships and processes which make up your environment, and apart from which you are nothing." (p.69) 

And, how we may come to recognize our true selves by becoming aware of the many cultural games that help keep up the hallucination, such as The Game of Black-and-White and How To Be A Genuine Fake (which also correspond to the names of chapters two and three).
     Watts' hope is that by helping us wake up to this understanding he may help eliminate much of the personal and worldly suffering that arises out of the common hallucination. He expresses many times how the belief in this hallucination leads to feelings of lonliness, anger, frustration and isolation, along with a separation from the natural world. And, his desire is to help others find peace by knowing their true selves. It is in this way that this text can be seen as Watts' philosophy of happiness.
     Throughout The Book, Watts' Eastern views about the nature of things and his proclivity towards the Hindu and Buddhist religions are evident. I have included the first two audio chapters from YouTube below. And, in some instances, Alan Watts is even speaking himself. Feel free to follow the links to the rest of the chapters if you enjoy these. 

Quiz Questions:
1. What was Alan Watts famous for?
2. What is the common hallucination that we suffer from, according to Watts?
3. How does this hallucination effect our feelings toward the natural world?
4. How can we overcome the hallucination?

Discussion Questions:
1. Why do you think that we wonder (and worry) so much about what happens to us when we die, but do not give equal weight of consideration to what was happening to us before we were born? Could this be a result of our efforts to construct the "self" in this life?
2. If Eastern religions believe what Watts espouses, why do you think they do not have a more harmonious relationship with the natural world? (I'm thinking of pollution issues in China here.)

Posts I commented on:

https://philoshap.blogspot.com/2019/12/grahams-final-draft-of-final-blog-post.html

https://philoshap.blogspot.com/2019/11/more-alan-watts.html